Iraq's Nationalistic Protests Present a Tricky Test for Iran

MIN READNov 19, 2019 | 10:30 GMT

Clouds of smoke and tear gas rise over protests in Baghdad on Nov. 14, 2019. The protest movement, driven by anger over corruption and economic malaise in Iraq, has persisted, threatening Iranian interests in the country.

(AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Protests like the ones that have gripped Iraq for the past few months have been a fact of life in the country for years, if on a smaller scale. The current protest movement, like ones previously, has coalesced around some of the same long-standing issues of government corruption and a lack of economic opportunity. Beyond the size and the scope of the demonstrations, what's new this time around has been the undercurrent of anti-Iranian sentiment flowing through the protests. This raises some difficulty for Tehran as it tries to maintain its political influence over the government in Baghdad to preserve its interest in keeping its neighbor tightly in its orbit. A growing sense of nationalism has marked the protests in Iraq, which began in early October and show little signs of dying out. That has translated into a demand by some Iraqis to end the involvement of foreign interests perceived as interfering in the country...